Healthy children, happy mothers

A vaccination campaign in Guinea Bissau has protected thousands of young children from dying as a result of preventable diseases.

Quinta, a mother of three young children living in Contuboel in the Bafata region, is one of the many who have benefited from a Plan-sponsored programme to vaccinate children and women of child-bearing age.

Many families like Quinta’s had previously suffered as a result of diseases which could easily be prevented. A lack of knowledge of the need for vaccination and poor access to healthcare meant that children were dying needlessly.

Quinta says, “For me, vaccination became very important because of past experiences. A few years ago, a neighbour of mine lost two of her children due to measles because they were not vaccinated.”

After this outbreak, a health technician visited the village and spread the message that they should vaccinate their children. It was emphasised that these basic vaccinations would not cost anything, because many families did not seek immunisation as they believed that it would be expensive.

Plan sponsored systematic vaccinations in health centres and an advanced mobile strategy of vaccination in the villages to reach as many children as possible. The health technicians travelled monthly to villages to vaccinate children and women of childbearing age.

A total of 88,707 children between 1 and 14 years old, and 3,620 babies aged from 6 to 11 months, were vaccinated. Mothers now take their children to health centres or to other locations such as mobile stations where vaccines are given.

Quinta adds, “My children have never caught any preventable diseases and I always try to respect the vaccination calendar.”

Currently, there are no reported cases of measles in children under 5 years of age at the Contuboel health centre. As Nuria, Quinta’s four-year-old daughter, says: “I will not get sick any more because I was vaccinated.”